March 12, 1975 (8 pages)

eer: iY 2 The Nevada County Nugget Wed., March 12,1975 California Country. }"Rough and Ready News Kristi Ottoman: WHAT DO YOU DO WITH ACONFESSED ARSONIST? When the sheriff came to work in the morning Paul Fredrick Clifford was waiting. “T’d like to confess,” Clifford said. ‘‘I set the fire at the Terry lumber yard last night and I want you to put me in jail.” The surprised sheriff listened to his sotry and agreed that the man belonged behind bars. It seemed that Clifford was a professional burglar, and a talented one at that. He claimed to have si the fire in the lumber pile to attract attention while he robbed the Redding city Kank. But when he went back to retrieve his tools, they were gone. He couldn’t find them anywhere. : Now a burglar with no tools is like a bank with no money. If Clifford could no longer practice his profession he decided he might as well go to jail. People thought he was crazy and the doctors who examined him could not all agree he was sane. But there was not doubt that he had started the fire and the District Attorney tried to bring charges. , The prosecutor soon ran into difficulty. A quirk in the law _ Stated that a man could not be convicted for -a felony:on the strength of his. own confession. There had to be collaborating evidence. For two months the D.A. researched law books and legal documents while Clifford enjoyed the hospitality of the state. He grew fat and jolly and enjoyed the comforts of a warm, dry bed and three hot meals a day. “I’m not asking for a trial, I’m not.asking to be sentenced, I don’t want to be set free,” he announced to the prosecutors. But his presence was an embarrassment, especially after the story made the big city newspapers. After much pressure from the state capital the lawyers finally found a charge and a warrant was sworn out. The wording was peculiar and charged Clifford with “burning a shed, not the subject of: arson.”, which made the crime: a misdemeanor, not a felony. Everyone was satisfied with the charge except Clifford. Since he had already been in jail long past the sentence imposed he was summarily thrown out of his lodgings, his landlords more than happy to finally be rid of their troublesome guest. ‘A thousand Clowns’ Sierra College bound “A Thousand Clowns,’’‘a play by Herb Gardner, directed by Evie Cogley, will be presented by the Sierra College Drama Department March 14-15 and March 21-22 at 8 p.m. in the college theatre. Larry Wight, Political Science instructor at Sierra College and an ex-comedian, stars in the role of Murray, a dry humored comedy writer left to raise his precocious young nephew, NEVADA COUNTY NUGGET 301 Broad Street Nevada City, Ca. 95959 Telephone 265-2559 PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY BY NEVADA COUNTY PUBLISHING CO. Second class postage paid at Nevada City, California. Adjudicated a legal newspaper of general circulation by the Nevada County Superior Court, June 3, 1960. Decree No. 12,406. Subscription Rates: . One Yeor . $3.00 Two Yeors . $5.00 _ Member of CALIFORNIA NEWSPAPERPUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION ® played by Lee Cranfield of Auburn. Randy Brooks portrays Murray’s successessful brother, Arnold. Brooks, a Drama instructor at Si¢fra Nevada College, has written several scripts for such television shows as ‘‘Lucas Tanner,’ ‘‘The Rookies,’’ and “Hawaii FiveoO.” rs ‘The role of Sandra, a Social Worker who __ investigates Murray, is played by Roelle Mitchell of Auburn. James WYagerty of Roseville portrays Albert, Sandra’s stiff co-worker and fiancee, and John/Flamm provides the frightened voice of Chuckles the Clown. All cast members have appeared in previous stage plays and ‘‘A Thousand Clowns’’ promises to be a fine production. Tickets ‘for the presentation are $1.00. For reservations, contact Sierra College’s Office of Community Services at 6243333, ext. 323. UNION HILL GRANT Congressman Harold T. (Bizz) Johnson, representing Nevada county, announced the recent approval of a $1,654 grant to the Union Hill Elementary School District. This amount was certified for immediate payment. The entitlement is under the federal impacted areas program by which the federal government contributes to school operating costs in areas where substantial federal employment increases . enrollment. John Tinsley, who has been serving as fire chief for the Rough and Ready Volunteer Fire Department since the loss of Al Moniz, has been appointed to the post permanently. H. Bruce Davison will serve as assistant fire chief. This notification was received from our fire district commission last Tuesday. Tinsley and Davison have both served with the Department since its organization in 1967. R&R Ladies of the fire department auxiliary have not been idle. They are planning three quilts for Secession Days this year. One is completed and the others are both underway. Quilt pieces are -badly needed; they can be any material and of any size or color. One pattern, called California Star, requires tiny pieces of all colors; so even very tiny pieces are needed. The ladies meet the second Monday of each month and all women of the community are welcome. During the winter months they hold their meetings in nice warm homes. Next meeting will be April 14. In the meantime you can call Lillian Blakley about your quilt pieces. R&R The Bicentennial Commission last week endorsed the formation of a new group in the area. It is to be called Brotherhood of the Hard Rock Miners. This area is the unquestioned site of the origin and development of this hardy breed of men. David Gates, who has written complete by-laws, ceremonies, application forms, motto and very colorful list of shift bosses, brought the project to the commission. He was encouraged to get on with the formation of the group because its color and historical By Fay Dunbar upon us! te R&RIn spite of the rain, spring and Easter are in the. air. Just over two weeks to get that new dress and bonnet. Mother has the house to clean too for that unexpected company. Easter’s date is determined easily if you remember the three firsts; it is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the 21st of March. R&R— Our dancing girls have started to work on the new Secession Day material they are planning for this year. Both groups plan to add something new. The young things that dance a lot need one new member. They are going to limit their appearances this year but they do need someone they can depend on to make an effort to meet dates. These ladies all have small children and:a home to care for but they have lots of fun. At last appearance the group was Jane Walter, Shiela Bartley, Joann Stevens, Val Berryman, and Norma Bowen. Happy group! They have selected two new numbers to work up for 1975. R&R , There is a very wise prayer called the “Serenity Prayer.” We often need this prayer because of the multitude of problems that we must face in this complex world of ours. “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” I can struggle with :nyself for serenity and even for courage, but someone better than I has got to grant me the wisdom. Half of my time I wear myself out being a Don Quixote and fighting heritage would add so much to the Ss windmills that I cannot possibly stop. I expect I en celebration. He needs about 10 dedi m make this possible. The group has no connection with the Clampers and is not designed to offer any competition to their goals. It will apply strictly to the area and the heritage of the hard rock miner. He would provide another colorful group of mining men and women dedicated only to the promotion of the heritage and history of the hard rock miner. ‘‘Hey Hard Rock! Hey Hi-grader!”’ is their motto. For more information call Hjalmer Berg. po aff th I should take my own advice and c the, geneology section of the Historical Society’s Library. Perhaps I could get all of the Dikeman family geneology straight. Mr. Hammill called again to call to my attention the announcement of the death of George Scarfe. Mr. Scarfe and the late Bessie, Wearn Scarfe were raised and married in this area. Scarfe was a mining engineer. He is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Worth (Bessie) Dikeman of Fairfield and Mrs. Thelma Ronan of Penn Valley. R&R Thank goodness my ‘birthing chores’ are all over for this year. I have three brood cows and now have the third new baby. She was born last Thursday, in the rain, and then, as if that weren’t enough, she fell into the drainage ditch. We put her in the barn for a couple of days so that she and mother might both get thoroughly dried out. My how she enjoyed stretching her legsin the big pasture yesterday. It’s worth all the trouble to watch them and note the pure joy they get out of life. I have five breeding ewes and only have 6 lambs; ar have been 10 babies. Yesterday for a few hours I had three horses. They wandered in off-the highway to feast on my green lawn. Carole Jones and her family, who live about one-half mile down the highway, are building a new corral and of course the horses found the weak spot. All animals, that have been living on dry hay, love this first moist green grass of spring. My own eat the new blades about as fast as they come up.Mrs. Jones tells me she is also raising chickens. She is right out in our wild area and has a lot of trouble with varmints. She thinks its foxes. ——R&R Don’t forget the~Chamber meeting on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. They meet in the back room at the Mexician Villa. Secession Days are _—have lots of company. R&RTommy, my cat, has hurt one of his legs. He loves to sit on the lap, which I no longer have, but this morning pressure on that leg hurt him. He just looks at my lap longingly and cries. It’s a relief for me, for a change, to be able to sit down and have a‘cup of coffee in peace. I do feel selfish. I can’t find a thing wrong but if it persists we shall see the veterinarian tomorrow. R&R Secession Days are the time to brush up on a bit of our Rough and Ready history. Lately I have been so involved with the new county park in Penn Valley and the buttermaker’s cottage there that I haven’t dug you up a new story. This secession was the first in the United States. It occurred on April 7, 1850. It was brought on by lack of law enforcement. Doesn’t that sound familiar! In most mining camps the problem was claim jumpers; in Rough and Ready it was © a clever swindler that ‘supplied. the ultimate injustice. He didn’t want the claim, too much work; he only wanted the gold. If he could get it by fraudulent means that was fine with him. Poor ol’ Joe Swiegart expected all men to be honest and hard working like himself. Little did he dream that any man would deliberately set out to steal, more or less legally. How that practice has grown! Joe won but only because the camp took matters into its own hands including the law. The irritant, of course, was paying taxes. They paid, as the Rev. James S. Dunleavy said, without proper representation. The reverend had represented San Francisco on the state constitution committee meeting at Monterey. Rough and Ready had not been represented there. California was still a territory at that time and got very little help from Washington. The nearest law enforcement was in Marysville. All in all it was a trying situation. The Great Republic will seceede again on Sunday April 6. The flag of the Great Republic will fly over Rough and Ready at least for that day. The secession only lasted about three months. Their laws were simple and President Brundage had the full cooperation of the citizens in enforcing them. They found that governing was not easy. When the fourth of July rolled around and all the other mining camps were planning big celebrations they went back to being just citizens of the U.S. so that they might plan one too.

eer: iY 2 The Nevada County Nugget Wed., March 12,1975 California Country. }"Rough and Ready News Kristi Ottoman: WHAT DO YOU DO WITH ACONFESSED ARSONIST? When the sheriff came to work in the morning Paul Fredrick Clifford was waiting. “T’d like to confess,” Clifford said. ‘‘I set the fire at the Terry lumber yard last night and I want you to put me in jail.” The surprised sheriff listened to his sotry and agreed that the man belonged behind bars. It seemed that Clifford was a professional burglar, and a talented one at that. He claimed to have si the fire in the lumber pile to attract attention while he robbed the Redding city Kank. But when he went back to retrieve his tools, they were gone. He couldn’t find them anywhere. : Now a burglar with no tools is like a bank with no money. If Clifford could no longer practice his profession he decided he might as well go to jail. People thought he was crazy and the doctors who examined him could not all agree he was sane. But there was not doubt that he had started the fire and the District Attorney tried to bring charges. , The prosecutor soon ran into difficulty. A quirk in the law _ Stated that a man could not be convicted for -a felony:on the strength of his. own confession. There had to be collaborating evidence. For two months the D.A. researched law books and legal documents while Clifford enjoyed the hospitality of the state. He grew fat and jolly and enjoyed the comforts of a warm, dry bed and three hot meals a day. “I’m not asking for a trial, I’m not.asking to be sentenced, I don’t want to be set free,” he announced to the prosecutors. But his presence was an embarrassment, especially after the story made the big city newspapers. After much pressure from the state capital the lawyers finally found a charge and a warrant was sworn out. The wording was peculiar and charged Clifford with “burning a shed, not the subject of: arson..”, which made the crime: a misdemeanor, not a felony. Everyone was satisfied with the charge except Clifford. Since he had already been in jail long past the sentence imposed he was summarily thrown out of his lodgings, his landlords more than happy to finally be rid of their troublesome guest. ‘A thousand Clowns’ Sierra College bound “A Thousand Clowns,’’‘a play by Herb Gardner, directed by Evie Cogley, will be presented by the Sierra College Drama Department March 14-15 and March 21-22 at 8 p.m. in the college theatre. Larry Wight, Political Science instructor at Sierra College and an ex-comedian, stars in the role of Murray, a dry humored comedy writer left to raise his precocious young nephew, NEVADA COUNTY NUGGET 301 Broad Street Nevada City, Ca. 95959 Telephone 265-2559 PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY BY NEVADA COUNTY PUBLISHING CO. Second class postage paid at Nevada City, California. Adjudicated a legal newspaper of general circulation by the Nevada County Superior Court, June 3, 1960. Decree No. 12,406. Subscription Rates: . One Yeor .. $3.00 Two Yeors .. $5.00 _ Member of CALIFORNIA NEWSPAPERPUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION ® played by Lee Cranfield of Auburn. Randy Brooks portrays Murray’s successessful brother, Arnold. Brooks, a Drama instructor at Si¢fra Nevada College, has written several scripts for such television shows as ‘‘Lucas Tanner,’ ‘‘The Rookies,’’ and “Hawaii FiveoO.” rs ‘The role of Sandra, a Social Worker who __ investigates Murray, is played by Roelle Mitchell of Auburn. James WYagerty of Roseville portrays Albert, Sandra’s stiff co-worker and fiancee, and John/Flamm provides the frightened voice of Chuckles the Clown. All cast members have appeared in previous stage plays and ‘‘A Thousand Clowns’’ promises to be a fine production. Tickets ‘for the presentation are $1.00. For reservations, contact Sierra College’s Office of Community Services at 6243333, ext. 323. UNION HILL GRANT Congressman Harold T. (Bizz) Johnson, representing Nevada county, announced the recent approval of a $1,654 grant to the Union Hill Elementary School District. This amount was certified for immediate payment. The entitlement is under the federal impacted areas program by which the federal government contributes to school operating costs in areas where substantial federal employment increases . enrollment. John Tinsley, who has been serving as fire chief for the Rough and Ready Volunteer Fire Department since the loss of Al Moniz, has been appointed to the post permanently. H. Bruce Davison will serve as assistant fire chief. This notification was received from our fire district commission last Tuesday. Tinsley and Davison have both served with the Department since its organization in 1967. R&R

Ladies of the fire department auxiliary have not been idle. They are planning three quilts for Secession Days this year. One is completed and the others are both underway. Quilt pieces are -badly needed; they can be any material and of any size or color. One pattern, called California Star, requires tiny pieces of all colors; so even very tiny pieces are needed. The ladies meet the second Monday of each month and all women of the community are welcome. During the winter months they hold their meetings in nice warm homes. Next meeting will be April 14. In the meantime you can call Lillian Blakley about your quilt pieces. R&R The Bicentennial Commission last week endorsed the formation of a new group in the area. It is to be called Brotherhood of the Hard Rock Miners. This area is the unquestioned site of the origin and development of this hardy breed of men. David Gates, who has written complete by-laws, ceremonies, application forms, motto and very colorful list of shift bosses, brought the project to the commission. He was encouraged to get on with the formation of the group because its color and historical By Fay Dunbar upon us! te R&RIn spite of the rain, spring and Easter are in the. air. Just over two weeks to get that new dress and bonnet. Mother has the house to clean too for that unexpected company. Easter’s date is determined easily if you remember the three firsts; it is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the 21st of March. R&R— Our dancing girls have started to work on the new Secession Day material they are planning for this year. Both groups plan to add something new. The young things that dance a lot need one new member. They are going to limit their appearances this year but they do need someone they can depend on to make an effort to meet dates. These ladies all have small children and:a home to care for but they have lots of fun. At last appearance the group was Jane Walter, Shiela Bartley, Joann Stevens, Val Berryman, and Norma Bowen. Happy group! They have selected two new numbers to work up for 1975. R&R , There is a very wise prayer called the “Serenity Prayer.” We often need this prayer because of the multitude of problems that we must face in this complex world of ours. “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” I can struggle with :nyself for serenity and even for courage, but someone better than I has got to grant me the wisdom. Half of my time I wear myself out being a Don Quixote and fighting heritage would add so much to the Ss windmills that I cannot possibly stop. I expect I en celebration. He needs about 10 dedi m make this possible. The group has no connection with the Clampers and is not designed to offer any competition to their goals. It will apply strictly to the area and the heritage of the hard rock miner. He would provide another colorful group of mining men and women dedicated only to the promotion of the heritage and history of the hard rock miner. ‘‘Hey Hard Rock! Hey Hi-grader!”’ is their motto. For more information call Hjalmer Berg. po aff th I should take my own advice and c the, geneology section of the Historical Society’s Library. Perhaps I could get all of the Dikeman family geneology straight. Mr. Hammill called again to call to my attention the announcement of the death of George Scarfe. Mr. Scarfe and the late Bessie, Wearn Scarfe were raised and married in this area. Scarfe was a mining engineer. He is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Worth (Bessie) Dikeman of Fairfield and Mrs. Thelma Ronan of Penn Valley. R&R Thank goodness my ‘birthing chores’ are all over for this year. I have three brood cows and now have the third new baby. She was born last Thursday, in the rain, and then, as if that weren’t enough, she fell into the drainage ditch. We put her in the barn for a couple of days so that she and mother might both get thoroughly dried out. My how she enjoyed stretching her legsin the big pasture yesterday. It’s worth all the trouble to watch them and note the pure joy they get out of life. I have five breeding ewes and only have 6 lambs; ar have been 10 babies. Yesterday for a few hours I had three horses. They wandered in off-the highway to feast on my green lawn. Carole Jones and her family, who live about one-half mile down the highway, are building a new corral and of course the horses found the weak spot. All animals, that have been living on dry hay, love this first moist green grass of spring. My own eat the new blades about as fast as they come up.Mrs. Jones tells me she is also raising chickens. She is right out in our wild area and has a lot of trouble with varmints. She thinks its foxes. ——R&R Don’t forget the~Chamber meeting on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. They meet in the back room at the Mexician Villa. Secession Days are _—have lots of company. R&RTommy, my cat, has hurt one of his legs. He loves to sit on the lap, which I no longer have, but this morning pressure on that leg hurt him. He just looks at my lap longingly and cries. It’s a relief for me, for a change, to be able to sit down and have a‘cup of coffee in peace. I do feel selfish. I can’t find a thing wrong but if it persists we shall see the veterinarian tomorrow. R&R Secession Days are the time to brush up on a bit of our Rough and Ready history. Lately I have been so involved with the new county park in Penn Valley and the buttermaker’s cottage there that I haven’t dug you up a new story. This secession was the first in the United States. It occurred on April 7, 1850. It was brought on by lack of law enforcement. Doesn’t that sound familiar! In most mining camps the problem was claim jumpers; in Rough and Ready it was © a clever swindler that ‘supplied. the ultimate injustice. He didn’t want the claim, too much work; he only wanted the gold. If he could get it by fraudulent means that was fine with him. Poor ol’ Joe Swiegart expected all men to be honest and hard working like himself. Little did he dream that any man would deliberately set out to steal, more or less legally. How that practice has grown! Joe won but only because the camp took matters into its own hands including the law. The irritant, of course, was paying taxes. They paid, as the Rev. James S. Dunleavy said, without proper representation. The reverend had represented San Francisco on the state constitution committee meeting at Monterey. Rough and Ready had not been represented there. California was still a territory at that time and got very little help from Washington. The nearest law enforcement was in Marysville. All in all it was a trying situation. The Great Republic will seceede again on Sunday April 6. The flag of the Great Republic will fly over Rough and Ready at least for that day. The secession only lasted about three months. Their laws were simple and President Brundage had the full cooperation of the citizens in enforcing them. They found that governing was not easy. When the fourth of July rolled around and all the other mining camps were planning big celebrations they went back to being just citizens of the U.S. so that they might plan one too.